What
could Maryland do with $10 million besides further incentivize people
to buy new cars that most of them don’t need? With just half that
money, they could restore transit cuts in the DC region. Those cuts
threaten to cut off vital service to many residents who don’t have
alternatives, or will drive many Marylanders to commute by car instead
of transit, increasing traffic, pollution and parking problems. DC and
most Virginia jurisdictions came up with extra money to stave off most
of their proposed cuts to Metro service, but Maryland remains $4.8
million behind. The other half of the $10 million could restore
previous cuts or improve service in Baltimore.

Instead of preserving this vital transportation choice,
Mikulski is intent on propping up an auto industry that has quite
simply overproduced cars for the current economy. Americans would do
just fine simply keeping their current cars a little longer. Meanwhile,
cutting transit service not only destroys jobs, but harms many
residents’ ability to get to their jobs.

The Federal tax deduction against the sales tax charged on new car sales apparently worked in my apartment complex, where four of my neighbors bought new cars. Three of the new cars are, lamentably, SUVs.